How to Launch a Career in VR: An Evening with Survios
Do you appreciate games as an art form? Do you find the idea of a career in VR exciting? Are you inspired by the pioneers breaking ground in interactive content to bring us boundary-pushing immersive VR experiences?
Gnomon invites you to meet the artists making these experiences possible. Survios is a VR studio in Los Angeles that is making games “more human” by leveraging the power of cutting-edge technology and investing in the right talent. Meet Justin Coury (Lead Artist), John Kim (Senior Animator), James Littlejohn (Senior VFX Artist), and Kevin Wilson (Senior Environment Artist) – four incredible talents from Survios – at the Gnomon Stage on July 6th, 7:30 PM, for an evening of insightful presentations and priceless industry advice. Discover how animators, VFX artists, and environments artists have transitioned from films and video games into VR, and learn how you can project-manage your own exciting ideas, from research through to execution. The Survios crew will discuss their specialties and offer techniques to help you prepare for rewarding careers in the games industry; they will share tips on how to manage your expectations when faced with industry realities and give direction to those wanting to break into the industry and stay competitive in the field. We’ll also learn what skills VFX artists need to succeed in the industry as well as the differences between creating film VFX versus real-time VR VFX, and have the opportunity to check out some examples from Survios’ best-selling VR game, Raw Data.
Don’t miss the opportunity to meet the Survios artists in person: RSVP today. If you can’t make it to the live event, be sure to tune in live on Livestream (no RSVP required to watch online). Livestream viewers can pitch questions during the live event using #gnomon on Twitter.
Schedule:
7:30 pm – 8:00 pm: Justin Coury discusses career realities and today’s industry standards in games
8:00 pm – 8:30 pm: John Kim offers advice for animators on how to prepare for the industry
8:30 pm – 9:00 pm: James Littlejohn talks about the VFX work involved in real-time vs. pre-rendered VR
9:00 pm – 9:30 pm: Kevin Wilson shares thoughts on how to develop ideas for a successful production
9:30 pm – 10:00 pm: Audience Questions + Meet the Guest Speakers
Are you an artist looking to specialize in games? Check out Gnomon’s celebrated vocational certificate program, Digital Production for Entertainment, the two-year program designed to produce studio-ready alumni. This program offers aGames Track option for those students passionate about a career in the games industry!
Guest Speakers
Lead Artist, Survios
Before Justin Coury became Survios’ Lead Artist on the studio’s best-selling VR title Raw Data, he got his start in the industry as a journalist for CG Channel before later transitioning into art. His first venture into the games industry was as a Technical Artist at Novalogic. Afterward, his career took a turn towards film as a Previsualization Artist at Halon Entertainment, working on hit films such as The Hunger Games and Pixels,before eventually breaking into the VR world with his current role at Survios.
Senior Animator, Survios
A 19-year gaming industry veteran, Survios’ Senior Animator, John Kim, originally got his start as a 3D Artist at Capcom, where he worked on their iconic fighting games, before transitioning to animation on Mindscape’s Prince of Persia 3D. As an animator, John’s broad skillset ranges from fluid, realistic human animations all the way to stylized animations, and he has contributed to a vast number of AAA titles including Jak & Daxter, Uncharted (and its sequels 2, 3, and 4), The Last of Us, and Half-Life 2: Episode 1.
Senior VFX Artist, Survios
Survios’ Senior VFX Artist, James Littlejohn, started his career in the film industry as an Effects Artist at Dreamworks Animation – his work can be seen in The Croods, Kung Fu Panda 3, and Penguins of Madagascar – before exploring the realm of VR filmmaking at Oculus Story Studio on real-time projects including Dear Angelica. From there, he transitioned to Survios to work on the VR game Raw Data. He specializes in particle FX, texturing, simulations, materials, scripting, and optimization.
Senior Environment Artist, Survios
After learning 3D Studio at college, Kevin’s fascination with CGI grew into a career focused on creating 3D imagery. After graduating from Central St Martin's College of Art and Design with a BA in Product/Industrial Design, Kevin landed his first design job: creating soccer stadiums and player heads for EA Sports’ FIFA 2002. Since then, he’s produced work for projects spanning the games, film, broadcast, advertising and visualization industries, learning new programs and pipelines along the way.
